The new 'iOS' which is still surprisingly developer friendly, despite the attitude it receives on forums such as HN.
iOS, for all of it's failings and deficiencies, still offers one of the finest – if not the finest – development and distribution platforms in the world.
Yes, it's not open. Yes, it's restrictive. Yes, it's censored.
But, perhaps, those qualities are some qualities that make it the most successful software sales vector we've ever seen.
I agree it's not perfect. But to say it's not developer friendly is quite disingenuous. The iOS development toolchain is actually quite powerful and flexible (though still faulty), the distribution mechanism is broad and simple (though restrictive and censoring), and I can't think of a single other platform, including the web, that has been as developer friendly. At least for developers who wish to make an income. (Something about which I admit, without any bit of judgement, some developers aren't concerned.)
I'm sorry, but making people pay $100 to develop on systems they own is not developer-friendly. I would much rather they had NO apis and we were allowed to access the hardware we bought.
Oh yes, I get all warm and fuzzy every time I think of how friendly Apple is to developers... ummm, are you crazy?
How friendly is a company that uses secret APIs to compete with you? How friendly is a company that rips off your software and then kicks you out of their app store? Gimme a break...
iOS, for all of it's failings and deficiencies, still offers one of the finest – if not the finest – development and distribution platforms in the world.
Yes, it's not open. Yes, it's restrictive. Yes, it's censored.
But, perhaps, those qualities are some qualities that make it the most successful software sales vector we've ever seen.
I agree it's not perfect. But to say it's not developer friendly is quite disingenuous. The iOS development toolchain is actually quite powerful and flexible (though still faulty), the distribution mechanism is broad and simple (though restrictive and censoring), and I can't think of a single other platform, including the web, that has been as developer friendly. At least for developers who wish to make an income. (Something about which I admit, without any bit of judgement, some developers aren't concerned.)